Israel Needs to Stand With Egypt

I often highlight the courage and true friendship of the Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles. It was a very contentious time for Israel, and I was invited for a celebration of the Azeri Independence Day. The Consul General, without any hesitation or fear, highlighted Azerbaijan’s close cooperation with Israel, mentioning Israel by name.

The Consul General gained my eternal gratitude, for everyone else was afraid to even mention the name “Israel” lest they be accused of (or catch) something bad. It was the most politically incorrect thing to do, and the Consul General, a diplomat, threw all caution to the wind and stood by us-when it counted most. It was not youthful indiscretion or mischievous experimentation – he actually meant what he said.

Later, during Operation Cast Lead (December, 2008 – January, 2009), Israel was again constantly maligned. The primary focus was Israel’s supposed “disproportionality,” only if Israel were to be “proportional,” some 8,000 (or twice or thrice that many) rockets were to hit Gaza, obliterating it into non-being.

Who stood at Israel’s side then? Of all the nations of the world, it was Egypt. Not because of the peace treaty Israel has with Egypt, a very cold one. Rather because the Egyptians know the soul, substance and behavior of the Gazans. They know the threats by the Hamas regime that now controls the area and the dangers of its continued expansion.

Something happened in 2011 that was not anticipated at all. Tunisia fell, its leader escaping to Saudi Arabia. “The Power of the Masses,” was the new slogan. The unrest spread like fire to Jordan, Egypt, even Yemen. In the blink of an eye, the map of the Middle East is reshaping, reforming; a new monster is emerging.

President Mubarak of Egypt was taken by surprise. Not only is his health shaky, his reign may come to an end with a wave of a hand, the hand of the masses who went to the streets.

So far the army has remained loyal to Mubarak, the disturbances seem to be “under control.” A tilting point may be reached, sneak upon us unannounced and clearly unexpected, when the forces protecting the current regime may just join the masses. If this were to happen, the Middle East would fall, like a house of cards, and a new hegemony would emerge, the Iranian Octopus.

President Obama and his administration are talking about “not taking sides,” but they have done exactly that, by denouncing the “disturbances,” and calling for steps to calm the situation down.

The protests, we understand, have allowed the Obama administration to foster a grand delusion of America leading the world into a period of Global Democracy. A post-Enlightenment notion of nonsense that has no relations to the ground, reality that is detached from facts or rationality and a fictional story that supersedes the course of events, creating them. A great disconnect more dangerous than the unfolding events.

The Middle East neither respects nor can exist under democracy. Even Israel is loosing her battle to survive because life there is too good.

Secretary of State Clinton advised:

“Before I talk about our meeting today, I want to say a word about the protests taking place in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. As we monitor this situation carefully, we call on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violence. We support the universal rights of the Egyptian people, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, and assembly. And we urge the Egyptian authorities not to prevent peaceful protests or block communications, including on social media sites.

“We believe strongly that the Egyptian Government has an important opportunity at this moment in time to implement political, economic, and social reforms to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people.”

Secretary Clinton should flip the pages of recent history, to 1978. A Democrat was our Commander in Chief. As he is still alive today, he will attest to the chain of events, although even the four decades since would not have impaired his ability to detach himself from any accountability to the consequences we are still experiencing.

It was at this time of year thirty two years ago that then President Carter called for the ruler (King) of Iran, the late Shah, to do just that: a bit more democracy, a bit more freedoms, a bit less harshness and less Savak (secret police). It was the American present for Christmas.

It was Carter’s calls and pressure on a friend of the USA, the late Shah, which brought the messiah on the white donkey out of exile and back to Iran. The seed for all that we know today to grow, Ahmadinejad, the Mullahs, and the race to develop nuclear and other more devastating arms, control the world and establish an Islamic caliphate, was planted then, watered and fed with an overdose of nutrients. How successfully devastating this experiment was!

So now, an American President once again calls for the relaxation of “human rights abuses,” for greater freedoms and a less strong hand, in an area that understands nothing but a firm fist forcefully applied.

It is now Israel’s turn – and deep responsibility – to stand with Mubarak, and extend whatever help is necessary-officially and behind the scenes.

If Egypt falls, there will be little to stop the Muslim Octopus from suffocating the world-and Israel is not in the best condition to be standing alone to block its way.

In the series “Postcards from Israel,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers throughout the world to join them as they present reports from Israel as seen by two sets of eyes: Bussel’s on the ground, Zager’s counter-point from home. Israel and the United States are inter-related – the two countries we hold dearest to our hearts – and so is this “point – counter-point” presentation that has, since 2008, become part of our lives.